Publication Type

Conference Proceeding Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

4-2018

Abstract

Past research has shown the benefits of food journaling in promoting mindful eating and healthier food choices. However, the links between journaling and healthy eating have not been thoroughly examined. Beyond caloric restriction, do journalers consistently and sufficiently consume healthful diets? How different are their eating habits compared to those of average consumers who tend to be less conscious about health? In this study, we analyze the healthy eating behaviors of active food journalers using data from MyFitnessPal. Surprisingly, our findings show that food journalers do not eat as healthily as they should despite their proclivity to health eating and their food choices resemble those of the general populace. Furthermore, we find that the journaling duration is only a marginal determinant of healthy eating outcomes and sociodemographic factors, such as gender and regions of residence, are much more predictive of healthy food choices.

Keywords

Healthy Eating, Eating Behaviors, Food Journals, Quantified Self, food, health, food diaries, myfitnesspal, personal informatics

Discipline

Databases and Information Systems | Health Information Technology | Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing

Research Areas

Data Science and Engineering

Publication

DH '18: Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference on Digital Health, Lyon, France, April 23-26

First Page

35

Last Page

44

ISBN

9781450364935

Identifier

10.1145/3194658.3194663

Publisher

ACM

City or Country

New York

Copyright Owner and License

Publisher

Comments

Best paper award at DH 2018

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1145/3194658.3194663

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